Al shrugged. Sleep was sleep. He went to bed, he woke up. He figured that by now his body knew the amount of sleep it needed, or whether it needed him to resume his reading instead.
"Reading is also good for you," Al informed Severus, nodding. "And reading withdrawals definitely cause mental deterioration."
He had several other things to add to that, but the gentle attention of the bird's beak distracted him from adding anything further. It's as if the sharp curve of the owl beak running through his hair, had rearranged his thought processes as well, from total disorder, to something less chaotic.
With his hair styled in such an unusual manner, Al cast a Tempus charm set for a minute and two seconds (preparation delay), and began counting down his pulse beats at four reference points. With his thumbs beneath his jaw on his carotid arteries, and his index and middle fingers placed on the temporal arteries on the sides of his face.